REPOST FROM 2012: Social Media & How We Lost Our Social Skills

Being in the food service industry has introduced me to a different interaction with people.

When I was sitting behind a desk, in a professional environment, I used the computer to type documents, prepare presentations and converse over email.  I used the telephone to answer questions, have conversations and get information.  I went to meetings to talk and listen to people face-to-face and I actually had real relationships with the people who came into my office to sit down and chat.

Now that I am working with the public in a more relaxed, casual environment, I see who is out there and that most people just don't have the desire to have conversations or even look up from their telephones.  I don't know how many times I approach a table and greet them with a "Hi, how are you today?" only to get them request a water with lemon without even looking me in the eyes.  They are too busy texting or playing games on their phones.  In fact, I waited on one table that consisted of a mother, father and two tweens and every single one of them was playing on their phone at the table.  Come on!!!!  

What is this world coming to when we can't even use our voices or have meaningful conversations with someone anymore?  We rely so much on technology and I only imagine it getting worse in the future.  Don't get me wrong, I love technology and use it on a daily basis.  It does seem that the younger generation (pre-teens, teens, young adults) are not the only culprits, many people in their 40's are teaching this kind of social trend.

I must say, lots of other servers don't like to wait on the "older generation" but I really love it.  These are the people who are grandparents and great grandparents.  They have been around in a world without all of the social media and probably have no desire to ever learn about it.  They have real talks and real stories that they will share with you whenever they feel like it.  They genuinely care when they await your response to "How are you today?"

I had a conversation with my daughter about social media recently and how kids her age are using it to express all of their feelings to the world instead of talking to their parents, writing poetry or even calling up a friend (as I did when I was her age).  If teens have a problem with someone's actions, they take to the Internet or texting to express their feelings instead of going straight to the person and just talking things out.  This leads to so much confusion and many more people's involvement.  I guess I can't limit this behaviour to just teens, I know plenty of marriages that have unfolded over the Internet and Facebook.  It's put right out there for all of us to be a part of and to react to.   

One of the biggest problems I see (and there are many) is that when you rely on written word to get your point across, there is no reflection to hear and no guarantee all of your words will be taken the way that you mean them.  Texts can get lost, sarcasm can be detected (or not detected) and cap locks can accidentally be used when we are not even upset.  Why not just pick up the phone or go hang out and talk things through?

Okay, I am done venting and I am going to step off of my soap box.

Review: A Few Email Subscriptions That I Have

Well, HELLO there!  It's been a little while.....Life, job, kids, family, you've heard all the excuses.

I have been cleaning up my email inbox and realized that I have a lot of subscriptions to websites that I simply am not interested in anymore (I am sure that I can speak for many of us).  I came across several that I really look forward to reading and I thought I would share them with you:

 

Be Happy  (www.behappy.me) - This website is filled with great, motivational quotes including the one above.  They are laid out in a poster format and are available for purchase if you want to hang them up or you can copy and paste them for free as computer backgrounds, greeting cards, etc.  What I really like is that you can use these as Facebook covers and the website even prepares them for you and all you have to do is connect through Facebook and upload.

This is an example of an email that I received:

To live, love, and be happy, forevermore, Jennifer, just decide to be from this moment forward.

Tallyho,
    The Universe

I receive these cool emails from Mike Dooley by signing up on his website Tut (Letters From The Universe) (www.tut.com).  These "Notes From The Universe" are super cool and really resonate with whatever is going on currently in my life.  Plus, it's neat to feel that the Universe is talking directly to me.  The founder of the website, Mike Dooley, is a philosophical master who founded Adventurers Club on the Internet that's now home to over 500,000 members from over 185 countries.  He writes inspirational books and he is one of the teachers in the international bestseller The Secret.

Who doesn't have Facebook?  If you don't, disregard this information.  However, if you are like me and enjoy telling the world what's going on in your life, sharing pictures with family, catching up with classmates, you will get a kick out of this next share:

Everyday Me  (www.everyday.me)

I love getting emails that remind me what was going on in MY life years ago.  In our busy lives, it's hard to remember, but with this cool app through Itunes, I get a reminder of the posts that I made years ago from my Facebook timeline.

Everyday.me is a smart timeline journal to capture all your life moments, including your activities across the web.

• Private by default - Collect every thought privately and safely.
• Never lose anything - Everything is backed up online.
• Capture the moment - Photos, Videos, Emotions, Tags, Search, and more.
• Where were you a year ago? Find out with our "Blast from the Past".

Future Me  (www.futureme.org)

I LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!!!  Many years ago I found this and decided to send a letter to my "future" self.  I wrote a letter to be read one year later.  As the months passed, I forgot all about this letter.  To my surprise, one year later, I received an email from myself.  It was a little Erie reading it 365 days later but as I read on, I thought about how cool it was to see how much my life had changed in that year's time.  I decided to this every year after that and have also begun sending these letters to my loved ones so that they too get a message from me.  Who knows, maybe after my time on earth is through, my loved ones will still get to hear from me (I know, a little morbid, but SO cool).

From their website:    "So send your future self some words of inspiration. Or maybe give 'em swift kick in the pants. Or just share some thoughts on where you'll or what you'll be up to in a year, three years...more? And then we'll do some time travel magic and deliver the letter to you. FutureYou, that is."

Well, this wraps up my post.  I hope you explore the various, cool email subscriptions that I enjoy using and I know you will too!

Social Media & How We Lost Our Communication Skills

Being in the food service industry has introduced me to a different interaction with people.

When I was sitting behind a desk, in a professional environment, I used the computer to type documents, prepare presentations and converse over email.  I used the telephone to answer questions, have conversations and get information.  I went to meetings to talk and listen to people face-to-face and I actually had real relationships with the people who came into my office to sit down and chat.

Now that I am working with the public in a more relaxed, casual environment, I see who is out there and that most people just don't have the desire to have conversations or even look up from their telephones.  I don't know how many times I approach a table and greet them with a "Hi, how are you today?" only to get them request a water with lemon without even looking me in the eyes.  They are too busy texting or playing games on their phones.  In fact, I waited on one table that consisted of a mother, father and two tweens and every single one of them was playing on their phone at the table.  Come on!!!!  

What is this world coming to when we can't even use our voices or have meaningful conversations with someone anymore?  We rely so much on technology and I only imagine it getting worse in the future.  Don't get me wrong, I love technology and use it on a daily basis.  It does seem that the younger generation (pre-teens, teens, young adults) are not the only culprits, many people in their 40's are teaching this kind of social trend.

I must say, lots of other servers don't like to wait on the "older generation" but I really love it.  These are the people who are grandparents and great grandparents.  They have been around in a world without all of the social media and probably have no desire to ever learn about it.  They have real talks and real stories that they will share with you whenever they feel like it.  They genuinely care when they await your response to "How are you today?"

I had a conversation with my daughter about social media recently and how kids her age are using it to express all of their feelings to the world instead of talking to their parents, writing poetry or even calling up a friend (as I did when I was her age).  If teens have a problem with someones actions, they take to the Internet or texting to express their feelings instead of going straight to the person and just talking things out.  This leads to so much confusion and many more people's involvement.  I guess I can't limit this behaviour to just teens, I know plenty of marriages that have unfolded over the Internet and Facebook.  It's put right out there for all of us to be a part of and to react to.   


One of the biggest problems I see (and there are many) is that when you rely on written word to get your point across, there is no reflection to hear and no guarantee all of your words will be taken the way that you mean them.  Texts can get lost, sarcasm can be detected (or not detected) and cap locks can accidentally be used when we are not even upset.  Why not just pick up the phone or go hang out and talk things through?


Okay, I am done venting and I am going to step off of my soap box.

Keeping The Big, Bad Wolf Away

Now days, it seems like everything we do is done online.  We talk to Grandma in Colorado, we send flowers to our pregnant sister, check our bank balance and pay our bills all via the world wide net.  Sooner or later, a "big, bad wolf" will try to come along and put a damper on your life by hacking into one of your accounts and obtaining access to everything simply by figuring out your password and log in.  

There are several ways that you can protect yourself from this happening to you.  Here are just a few:

1.  Use different user names and passwords for each account.  Could you imagine if someone got a hold of the log in that you use for all of your accounts?  I know, it's tough to remember each log in for each site, that's why I have a spreadsheet with all the information stashed away securely in my home.  If someone breaks in, well, that's a whole other story.....

2.  Change your passwords often.  This should be done every couple months.

3.  Obtain a credit card that you use just for making online purchases.  This way, if that card is compromised, you can shut it down quickly.

4.  Check your credit report often.  This will give you an idea if anyone is using your identity.  There are even some credit reporting companies that offer a free credit report.

5.  Secure your computer with updated virus protection, firewalls and all that "techy" stuff.  You never know when someone is trying to get in....

Problem in the Feed World

Being fairly new in this Blogging World, I have found myself excited at figuring out all the ins and outs of creating my blog and making it do fun things. Sadly, I am experiencing a problem with my FeedBurner feed. In my Yahoo reader, I am noticing that my feed is a week outdated and I don't understand. I have done some of the things like pinging and re-synching and checking the validity but so far, nothing is working. My last resort is to post a new post (this one) and see if it clears up the problem. If not, I will need to create a new feed and could potentially lose my readers *SIGH*.

Have any of you had this problem? If I do lose you, my dear readers, will you come back and visit me? I promise, I will put up a new feed so you can find me easier.

Thanks for your support.

UPDATE: I RE-DID MY FEED SO THE FEED CHICKLET ON THE BLOG IS GOOD. IF YOU ARE READING MY BLOG FROM THE OLD READER, PLEASE UPDATE. (I DON'T WANNA LOSE YA, MAN...)